By Tim Clark / / Column, Tim's Two Cents
Two

What happens when everyone is paying players?

You get no elite teams.

What happens when you have no elite teams?

You get chaos like we saw last Saturday.

This is what everyone wanted, and to be honest it is nice seeing teams like Indiana, UCLA, and BYU contend with the big boys. Making good coaching hires is paramount with the landscape putting more teams on a level playing field.

Look no further than last Saturday.

Georgia looked legitimately like one of the best—if not the best— teams in the country. Then Auburn, a team with two losses and two squeaker wins over below average teams, comes between the hedges and authors a huge upset. Georgia was sloppy, and Auburn took advantage.

It is debatable whether Texas or their quarterback, Arch Manning, is more overrated. Still, Florida was coming off back to back blowout losses to Missouri and South Carolina. The Gators came to Austin and chomped their way past Texas. The Longhorns still have several difficult games left on the schedule.

The entire SEC is in flux. Alabama looked good all year, despite a close loss to Georgia. Then they go to Tennessee and look awful. The Vols rocky topped the crap out of the Tide. It is now Tennessee that is far closer to the driver’s seat than Bama.

It is hard to see anyone other than Georgia ending the season with just one loss. Kentucky will most likely lose at least one more. They go head to head with Tennessee in a couple of weeks. Ole Miss is the other one loss team, but the Rebels have a few tough games left. Ole Miss goes Texas, Auburn, Georgia over the next three weeks. Then there are all the two losses teams, and they all have games against fellow two losses teams.

Chaos.

Good luck to the committee trying to parse through eight 2 or 3 loss SEC teams.

The Big Ten is only slightly less confusing.

Ohio State may be the best team in the country, but the Buckeyes will now have to navigate the next few weeks with a backup quarterback. That means a trip to USC on Halloween night and a home game versus Oregon the following week.  Remember, Ohio State already has a loss.

Indiana has the most manageable schedule. Tell me where you’ve heard that before. A visit from USC is most likely the Hoosiers toughest test. Losing more than one more game is unlikely.

Oregon has a manageable schedule, but they’ve got some demons following them around. Dan Lanning is ever so close to losing control of the Ducks. The latest news is most of his receiving corps raced police Saturday night, leading to at least one arrest for DUI involving Evan Stewart. So the Ducks are a hard team to project into the future.

USC, because of the rightful perception they have built for themselves, will almost have to beat either Ohio State at home or Indiana on the road. That is to say nothing of this week’s trip to Madison to face an improving Wisconsin. Even if they skate through that patch with only one more loss, they’ve suddenly invincible UCLA Bruins await at season’s end.

How crazy is this season? UCLA seems like the most likely team to b layoff bound from the Big Ten. They are playing with a second string quarterback, but he exudes confidence and will only get better each week. USC is the Bruins toughest remaining game and they are yet to lose a game.

Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Northwestern are all possibilities from the Big Ten. The problem is they all play each other, most likely eliminating most from playoff contention. Iowa seems like the most likely team that could limit their losses and remain in contention.

Chaos.

The parity/mediocrity in the big two conferences could open the door for the Big 12 and ACC.

Let’s settle the ACC debate. The league is so terrible that no amount of open doors will allow anyone but Miami to walk through, with one exception. Wake Forest. The upstart Deacons have only one loss and a favorable schedule. If Wake can beat SMU in a few weeks they very well could finish with one loss and be set up to play in the ACC Championship Game.

Miami proved that nobody is untouchable when they needed a couple really favorable calls to beat an average Florida State team in double overtime.

The bottom line is the ACC doesn’t deserve to teams in the playoffs, but the dreaded chaos may allow for it.

The Big 12 suddenly has a team that will be vying for a top seed in the playoffs. BYU’s controversial win over Notre Dame may end up being the best win any team has this year. I would argue that it was a good win over an overrated team. The Irish play nobody, and when they finally do they blow it.

The Big 12 is definitely going to be the conference that benefits most from the chaos.

Houston only lost by two points at Texas Tech. The Cougars slipped past Oklahoma State a week ago, setting up this week’s big game at Utah. Utah struggled on the road, but finally staved off a prime upset at Colorado. In addition to these two teams is Texas Tech with the softest of schedules. The Red Raiders going undefeated would not be a surprise.

By season’s end there could be four Big 12 teams saying, “Why not us?”

Chaos.

Then there is Notre Dame. You can bet the Irish will sing it from the mountain top that the loss to BYU was tainted by some poor officiating on the last play of the game. They wouldn’t be wrong, but a loss is a loss is a loss. Another loss to Miami in two weeks could —and should— spell doom for Notre Dame’s playoff chances. The schedule they play because they don’t belong to a conference is embarrassing. Two losses should be one too many.

Chaos.

By the end of November the playoff committee may very well be deciding between three loss teams from the Big Ten and SEC or two loss teams from the Big 12, ACC, and Notre Dame.

Everyone can spend money on players. Players are going to far more teams, allowing for teams to be much more similar talent wise. Gone are the dominant teams who rule the roost, and in their place we get more equally talented teams. This phenomenon creates Saturdays like last weekend.

Chaos.

Sports.

Tweet of the Week

If you didn’t see this, you would never believe it. Sports. Amazing.

 


The Weekly Shiny Penny

Good for New Mexico head coach Jason Eck for finally displaying common sense. No need for antics when losing to Hawaii. The Lobos went on to win this game.

 


A Penny For My Final Thoughts…

  • Josh Allen single handily keeping the quarterback position interesting. Play,of the year candidate…

 

  • The Eagles lost Sunday, we found out they nearly killed Jalen Hurts —literally— and oddly enough Nick Sirianni has no answers.
  • The Rams are a bust. Myles Garrett would’ve been better off in Cleveland.
  • Is Jim Harbaugh still employed?
  • No words…

 

  • Why is officiating so difficult? Last week refs screwed up the end of the Alabama/Georgia game. This week it was the Miami/FSU game and the BYU/Notre Dame game. And then this under The radar missed call.

 

  • The NBA begins this week. Here is one more reason to not pay attention.

 

  • The Flyers have been awful. The Pens have been awful ever since routing Philadelphia.
  • We are getting the World Series purist deserve. Two small market teams who play the game correctly and maximize what they have.
  • Brewers in 6.
Just my two cents…